Established in 1958, the Meritorious Service Award is APPA's highest award for service to the Association. It recognises sustained contribution at the international level through Board service, committee participation, or leadership in APPA's professional development programs.

Eligibility

• Open to any APPA Individual Institutional member in good standing
• Minimum of ten consecutive years of employment at an APPA member institution in good standing
• Active participation in meetings and other functions at the international level
• Service at the international APPA level, such as Board member, committee or group member, or dean, trainer or facilitator within professional development
• Service at the regional or chapter level, such as board, committee or meeting host, and/or service to an associated professional organisation whose primary purpose is the betterment of facilities management operations at colleges and universities

Current APPA Board members are not eligible. Past recipients may be nominated again after ten further years of service.

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The Pacesetter Award recognises mid-career professionals who have demonstrated active engagement at the regional or chapter level and show promise for continued leadership in APPA and the profession.

Eligibility

• Open to any APPA Individual Institutional member in good standing
• Minimum of three years of active APPA membership
• Minimum of three years of active membership in your chapter or region
• Active participation, contribution or accomplishment in regional and chapter meetings or other APPA functions

Examples of qualifying contribution

• Leadership in your region or chapter, such as board service or hosting a meeting or conference
• Leadership on a host committee, including as host committee chair
• Leadership in professional development, such as organising or hosting APPA events or preparing educational sessions
• Leadership in advancing the organisation, such as promotion, marketing, or coordinating membership drives
• Authoring articles in regional, chapter or national newsletters, contributing to the Body of Knowledge, or authoring a book
• Serving as regional liaison to APPA, or as liaison to an APPA Board, work group or task force
• Code advocacy activity, or service on the APPA Standards & Codes Council
• Other voluntary contributions of time, effort, resources and leadership that promote and enhance APPA and the profession

The Pacesetter Award may be received once. Past recipients cannot be nominated again.

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Initiated in 1987, the Rex Dillow Award honours the best article published in Facilities Manager magazine during the previous year.

No nomination is required. Every eligible article published during the calendar year is considered automatically.

Eligibility

• Articles must be written by full-time employees from any department of an APPA member institution
• APPA Members Emeritus who are not affiliated with a business partner firm are eligible
• Where an article has multiple authors, all must be full-time employees of an APPA member institution or Members Emeritus
• Member institutions must be Institutional members at the time of publication

How articles are assessed

Articles are reviewed by designated representatives from each APPA region against five categories, each given equal weight.

1. Content — the degree to which the article adds to the body of knowledge of the facilities profession through new information, a new perspective on existing information or techniques, or case studies
2. Interest — the degree to which the article addresses current topics or stimulates interest through its methods of expression
3. Readability — the degree to which the article conforms to the style and format of the magazine, uses easily understood words and phrases, and provides a logical structure
4. Applicability — the appeal and value of the article's content to a broad range of educational facilities and other institutions
5. Ease of editing — the time and effort required by the magazine editor to prepare the submitted article for publication

See past Rex Dillow recipients → · Write for Facilities Manager →

APPA Fellow is the Association's highest individual honour, recognising sustained excellence and exceptional contribution to educational facilities management. It is a designation rather than simply an award: it carries recognition for accomplishments to date and an expectation of continued involvement in APPA leadership through service, research, coaching and mentoring.

Eligibility

• Minimum of ten consecutive years of employment as an employee, including Emeritus, of an APPA member institution in good standing
• Two recommendation letters substantively supporting the candidate's qualifications
• Demonstrated significant contribution across all four dimensions below, with particular emphasis on innovation and advancement of the body of knowledge

The four dimensions

• Leadership — progressive advancement in the field, achievement of a senior facilities officer or similar institutional leadership position, or position as academic faculty at an accredited institution
• Innovation — advancement of the body of knowledge through research, publication, presentation or teaching, Body of Knowledge authorship, and broad industry recognition of important advances
• Service — active participation in APPA at chapter, regional or international level, instructing or facilitating in APPA programs, peer evaluation work such as FMEP and APPA Advisors, and service to related associations
• Lifelong development — CEFP credential, graduation from the Institute or Leadership Academy, and sustained participation in professional development over the span of APPA membership

The review and approval process for the APPA Fellow designation is being updated by the Board. Submissions are temporarily suspended during this review.

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Established in 1988, the Award for Excellence is APPA's highest institutional honour. It recognises facilities management organisations demonstrating comprehensive excellence across the whole enterprise rather than strength in a single area.

Eligibility

• Open to any APPA Institutional Member in good standing
• The institution submits a detailed self-evaluation addressing all seven criteria below
• Multi-campus systems may apply for system-wide operations or for individual campuses

The seven criteria

1. Leadership
2. Strategic and operational planning
3. Customer focus
4. Information and analysis
5. Human resources development and management
6. Process management
7. Performance results

How applications are assessed

Evaluation is based on the institution's submitted materials. The evaluation team may hold follow-up sessions with key personnel to verify information and understand the operation in more depth. Institutions may apply for overall recognition, for excellence in specific categories, or for a combination.

The designation is valid for five years, during which the institution may display the recognition. Institutions reapply after five years for continued recognition.

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Recognises programs and processes that enhance service delivery, lower costs, increase productivity, improve customer service, generate revenue, or otherwise benefit the institution through innovation and transferability.

Eligibility

• Open to any APPA Institutional Member in good standing
• Multi-campus or state systems may apply for system-wide or individual operations
• Entries must describe either a new program or a significant restructuring of an existing program or process

How entries are judged

Entries are scored against five criteria.

• Institutional benefit — how the initiative benefits the institution and its constituents, the extent of that benefit, and documented results supported by data
• Innovativeness, creativity and originality — what differentiates the initiative from similar efforts, with documented benchmarking to establish originality
• Portability and resiliency — whether the initiative transfers to other institutions without drastic alteration or cost, and how easily it implements without extensive customisation
• Management commitment and employee involvement — alignment with institutional goals, stakeholder involvement, and participation of employees at all levels
• Documentation, analysis, customer input and benchmarking — how information analysis is used to evaluate performance and drive improvement, the tools used, and the clarity of documentation

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